My take on the Women’s March

I have been going over things involving this country and our new president in my head for a long time. I have had back and forth arguments on Facebook, had a few friends message me about their frustrations, and walked with over 20,000 people during San Jose’s Women’s March this past Saturday.

I was hesitant to go to the march and read many articles that made good points about why I shouldn’t, but I went so I could form my own opinion.

My whole journey into this mess started when I first started supporting Hillary Clinton for president. I had been a Bernie Sanders supporter up until that point because he shared some of same values I do and was very outspoken when it came to the rights of the oppressed in this country. He’s an old white man who was actively involved in the civil rights movement. He’s the type of leader I had been looking for, someone who not only believed in change, but actively fought for it. Bernie still to this day continues to voice his opinion on the politics of this country.

So, because he didn’t receive the Democratic nomination, I decided to show support for Hillary and I did eventually vote for her. And we all know how the story ends: she loses even though she 3 million more people voted for her over Trump. Back in 2000, Al Gore received about 500,000 more votes over George W. Bush, considerable WAY less of a difference than Clinton vs. Trump, and people also got angry about it back then as well.

Back in 2000, I was a fourth grader and had no idea what was going on in the world. But, today I am 25 years old and I am angry.

During the march, I was surrounded by a lot of people. I saw a lot of clever signs, like this one:

A uterus flipping Trump off

There were many great speakers that spoke at the march, especially at the ones in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles:

It was great and inspirational. I of course noticed the majority of the marchers were white women, but it was a march for women, so it shouldn’t matter right?

This is a person who is clearly aware of her privilege (or at least trying to learn more about it) and trying to educate people (mainly white women). There is absolutely nothing wrong with this! This should be the norm.

Instead, I’m continually having to argue with ignorant people on Facebook about my humanity. Trump does not care about my humanity. Everything about me is everything he is against. And with every fiber of my being, I will be a voice of opposition of Trump.

The important thing people need to take from this whole march is to understand their privilege. I walked past police officers wearing pink caps, directing people in the safe route of blocked off streets during the march. This happens while protests and marches for Black Lives Matter and anything involving NoDAPL gets met with violence. While Islamic centers are being targeted and Trump and his Republican posse continue on their war against women’s rights.

Then I see trash like this:

As my friend Cesar said, “White Savior Complex for 1000”

The future is female, but the world will not be saved by western women. The world will be saved once people begin to recognize their privileges and work to make it better for everyone.